The Curse Keepers Collection (121 page)

“How did the conjurer have the power to expose the gate?”

“I don’t know,” David answered, deep in thought. “After reading the rest of this letter, it sounds like Ahone set the whole thing up.” He turned back to the screen. “It says here that an older man appeared as the conjurer continued his ceremony. He had long white hair and a beard, and he told the demon behind the bars, ‘One day you will be free, but not for long. Once the seal to the gate breaks open, I will set in motion a plan that will seal the gate permanently with you and your vile creations locked behind it forever.’ Then the white-haired spirit chanted words and the spear and the other object in the conjurer’s hand—a gold ring—began to glow so much that they lit up the forest. The demons started to scream and the white-haired man’s voice rose above the noise, telling the Englishman, ‘You now have a weapon to use on your own. And the other Keeper has one too. When you bring the weapons close to the gate of Popogusso, they will sing, and that’s your sign that the weapon will allow you to send the demons back to hell.’ ”

“The weapons sing?” I asked. A thought tickled in the back of my head, a memory just out of reach. “The ring that sings at the gate of Popogusso,” I murmured.

David sat up straighter. “You say that like you’re remembering something.”

I closed my eyes to concentrate, but nothing emerged. Shaking my head, I opened my eyes. “There’s a memory there, but I can’t reach it.”

He snaked my hand and cradled it in his. “Obviously your memories have information we can use. Perhaps we should consider hypnosis to bring them to the surface.”

I’d never thought of that before. “Do you think it would work?”

He searched my face. “It might be worth a try.”

I released a sigh and stood, breaking free of his hold. “Does it say anything else?” A hint of irritation laced my words. I wasn’t frustrated with David, though, just my own broken memory. I wasn’t sure hypnosis was the answer. Did I really want a psychologist hearing my memories of the curse? I’d probably get a one-way ticket to the loony bin.

“It says the ceremony ended and the gate disappeared and the demons along with it, but the older spirit stayed and told the Englishman that one day the curse would break and his descendant would need the ring. That she was to stand next to the gate and recite the inscription on the band and reseal the gate. That her survival would depend on it.” David looked up. “
Her
. All mentions of the Keepers on both sides seem to refer to them as men. Do you remember there ever being a female Keeper on the Dare line before you?”

I scoured my memory and shook my head, my breath catching. “No. Collin said his grandmother was a Keeper. She was only the third female Keeper in the Manteo line. But Daddy never mentioned a woman on our side.”

David’s mouth puckered with concentration. “It’s not surprising that women would be the Keeper in the Manteo line. The Croatan were a matriarchal society. Although the conjurers were traditionally men.”

“So the
her
could have been a Manteo Keeper?”

David shook his head. “I don’t think so. Ahone told the Englishman—a Dare Keeper—that
his
descendant’s survival would depend on it.”

If the
her
referred to me, Ahone had predicted my birth over three hundred years ago. This had all been planned centuries ago. “Ahone had the letter sent here.”

“You don’t know that.”

My gaze found his. “Yes. I do. It goes back so much further than I thought it did.” It was past time to tell him about my chat with Okeus. I shouldn’t have kept it from him for this long. “When I was at the beach yesterday, Collin and I joined hands when I was in the ocean. I had a vision of sorts. I was in the field where I saw my dad. Only this time, I saw Okeus.”

“What?” he shot out of his seat and stood in front of me. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did he try to hurt you?”

I understood his concern after my last encounter with the god. I shook my head. “No, he didn’t, and I’m not sure why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want to worry you, I guess.”

“Ellie.” The disappointment in his voice killed me.

“He told me that Ahone had orchestrated my birth. That my mother had experienced five miscarriages before giving birth to me.”

He blinked in surprise. “Did she?”

“I don’t know.” I turned away and moved to the window. “I know my parents had fertility issues. They were older when I was born. It’s not outside the realm of possibility.”

“But why?”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what Okeus had told me about Ahone wanting to create the perfect counterpart to Collin. “Who knows why they do what they do? Maybe he was waiting for a Keeper who was a witness to creation.” I shrugged, hoping I was convincing. “Like I told you, Ahone was there the night my mother was murdered too.” I spun around to face him, my face burning with anger. “He’s a fucking god, David,” I said. “He could have saved her that night, but he only saved me. He kept me hidden while I listened to her screams. I couldn’t help her.”

David’s eyes widened. “What did you just say?”

I shook my head, fighting a faint feeling. Where had
that
come from? Was it true?

“Ahone
saved you
?” he asked.

I moved to the desk and sat on the edge. Too many things were happening and too many memories were rushing back to me before fading away just as quickly. I needed to get myself together. “It just popped into my head. I knew he kept me from going downstairs, but somehow I know he did even more to protect me. I just can’t remember what.”

He released a deep breath. “Wow. Okay. Ahone really wanted you alive. That’s good.”

“Is it? Okeus wants to use me because I’m a witness to creation, but at least he’s semihonest about it. Ahone’s a sneaky bastard who’s trying to get what he wants without admitting to any of it. He was the one who told Collin to open the gate. He was the one who tricked him. Why would he want me to use the ring? For what purpose?” I’d spent a good part of the morning mulling it over while I scanned page after page, coming up with nothing.

Until now.

My eyes widened. “
The inscription
. He wants me to recite it at the gate. That’s exactly what Ahone told my ancestor I needed to do.” I shook my head in disgust. “I’m not giving that bastard what he wants. I don’t think I should use it.”

David’s jaw dropped. “What do you mean you
shouldn’t
use the ring? We just found out that it’s real and you can use it on your own. Without Collin.” He took a step back and ran his hand over his head. “Ellie, Ahone told the Dare Keeper that the ring would save your life by locking up the demons. No Collin needed.
Why wouldn’t you use it?
”

“Because that’s what Ahone wants, David! He’s using me. I don’t trust him, so I don’t trust the ring either.” I looked down at the vile thing on my hand. It had gotten my mother killed. I was certain of it. Was Ahone planning to sacrifice me as well? “I will never side with Ahone again.”

“You’re not seriously thinking about siding with Okeus, are you?”

My eyes narrowed. “No, of course not. I already told you last night that I don’t want to side with either of them.”

He shook his head in frustration. “If you won’t use the ring for yourself, think about the lives of countless other people. Four people already died in Manteo because of the Raven Mockers, Ellie, and that might just be the beginning.”

“
I don’t trust him
. If I use it, I’m falling right into his plans, which we both know is
never
in my best interest. So if I use the ring, what price will I have to pay?”

“You already put his mark on your back, Ellie. You sold your soul to him. What else can he take?”

“You.” Tears burned behind my eyes. “He can still take
you
. He’s using me, yet he keeps taking things from me. He took my mother and my father. You might be next.”

David heaved out a breath and pulled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around my back. “Oh, Ellie.”

“I can’t lose you, David. I don’t think I could survive it.”

He cradled my head against his chest. “I’m not going anywhere.”

But I knew he couldn’t promise me that.

Only one being could. And I was going to stop him if it was the last thing I did.

I suspected it just might be.

C
HAPTER
T
EN

I gave David a kiss and stepped away from him, moving back to the window.

“Ellie, don’t pull away from me because you’re afraid of losing me.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned my attention to the wall of photos opposite his desk. “You have a lot of pictures.”

He rested his butt against the desk, watching me. “Yeah,” he murmured.

“I don’t see any photos of naked coeds,” I said with a small smile. “When I tried to show you a photo of my tattoo on my phone, you told me that you’d have me arrested if it was a naked picture. Have you really gotten any of those?”

“A few times, which was a few times more than I cared for. I think you know me well enough to know that I’m not really into that sort of thing.” A slow grin spread across his face. “Unless you want to text me some photos of yourself.”

I snorted. “Not a chance.”

“You can’t blame a bloke for trying.”

My heart was heavy, but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I stepped closer to the wall, where there were several pictures of David with an older couple. “Are these your parents?”

A soft smile spread across his face. “Yeah. And that’s my brother, Matthew.”

I studied a photo of a younger David with a guy who looked a lot like him. They were indoors, but the photo was so closely cropped, I couldn’t tell much else about the room where they were standing. “He has a nice smile. He looks friendly.”

“He is. We aren’t close—we’re just such opposites—but we’re there for each other if one of us needs something.”

“So you miss them?”

“Yeah. Particularly my mum, but we get to chat on the phone and Skype.”

My head jerked up. “You haven’t talked to her very much since you’ve been with me.”

“I usually call during my lunch break at work.” He shrugged. “The time difference.”

I continued down the wall. The photos were random snapshots of his life. Pictures with friends at parties and a few archaeological sites. And there were several of David with a pretty blonde woman. Even though they weren’t showing any signs of physical affection, I knew they were a couple. In one of the photos, they were in the mountains, both of them dressed in ski jackets and carrying poles. “You ski?” I asked.

“Yeah.” He shifted nervously.

I pointed to the photo while looking over my shoulder at him. “This is Allison, isn’t it?”

“We’re still friends, Ellie. As I told you, our breakup was amicable.” He pushed himself off the desk. “I can take them down.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Please don’t.” I gave him a tentative smile. “I’m not jealous of her.”

He flashed a wonky grin. “I’m not sure whether to be worried or relieved.”

I turned around so that I was facing him and stared into his anxious face. “Go with relieved. I know you want to be with me, so I’m not worried.” Although I still wondered if it was a good idea for me to keep him around. The last thing I wanted to do was endanger him. “Do we know anything about when we’re meeting her?”

“She texted earlier. She wants both of us to come over for dinner.”

“
Dinner?
”

“We parted friends, Ellie. She’s curious about what I’ve been up to in Manteo.” He hesitated. “But we’ll only do it if you’re okay with it.”

I didn’t want to, but David put up with so much crap involving Collin, how could I refuse him? I could tell he really wanted to go. “Of course. It’s fine.”

“Okay.” But he didn’t sound convinced. “She’d like us to come to her house at seven.”

“Okay.” I paused. “I still haven’t made arrangements to see Myra. I was waiting to see what happened with Allison. I’ll see if she can meet me tomorrow.”

“Let’s grab some lunch and head back to my place. I can pack up some of my personal things before we go over to Allison’s.”